Common sense with kids . . . and my introspection.
SolidSqual
Posts: 5,218
Normally I don't post stuff like this, but this news article just has me scratching my head.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43810459
How many of these child researchers and willy-nilly parents actually study their own life? Before the age of three, my Dad had me in Lake Erie swimming and playing in the surf. By seven, I was hiking through ravines and climbing tall trees. By ten, he had me hoisted up a 35' mast of a sailboat to adjust the radio antennas or shackles (because I was the lightest on board).
My Dad has always placed me in incrementally more dangerous situations since I can remember. God, at 17 we sailed up the east Coast from Key West to Lake Erie! We actually survived the edge of a hurricane by hanging on to our nuts and praying the sea anchor held.
Today, my Dad is providing the same exact old school education to my niece. At 3, this little kid climbs on the rocks of break walls and climbs all over jungle gyms like they are a walk in the park.
Then I look at my Fiance's brother whose Dad never took him fishing, never put him in a fast car, never took him camping, never made him use a lawn tractor to cut the grass, never made him pickup a power saw, and he is worthless as a man. He reads articles about what may kill you and avoids anything the experts say might harm him. He sits at home, has a long distance relationship with a girl he sees once in a while and would prefer to build an addition to his parents house rather than move out.
A little danger, some fear, and even outright failure in one's life breeds character, and all that helps give you the confidence to achieve success in whatever you do.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43810459
How many of these child researchers and willy-nilly parents actually study their own life? Before the age of three, my Dad had me in Lake Erie swimming and playing in the surf. By seven, I was hiking through ravines and climbing tall trees. By ten, he had me hoisted up a 35' mast of a sailboat to adjust the radio antennas or shackles (because I was the lightest on board).
My Dad has always placed me in incrementally more dangerous situations since I can remember. God, at 17 we sailed up the east Coast from Key West to Lake Erie! We actually survived the edge of a hurricane by hanging on to our nuts and praying the sea anchor held.
Today, my Dad is providing the same exact old school education to my niece. At 3, this little kid climbs on the rocks of break walls and climbs all over jungle gyms like they are a walk in the park.
Then I look at my Fiance's brother whose Dad never took him fishing, never put him in a fast car, never took him camping, never made him use a lawn tractor to cut the grass, never made him pickup a power saw, and he is worthless as a man. He reads articles about what may kill you and avoids anything the experts say might harm him. He sits at home, has a long distance relationship with a girl he sees once in a while and would prefer to build an addition to his parents house rather than move out.
A little danger, some fear, and even outright failure in one's life breeds character, and all that helps give you the confidence to achieve success in whatever you do.
Post edited by SolidSqual on
Comments
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Nice post and great article.
-CodyMusic is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it -
Failure is a big part of character building. Like it or not, as a parent, your responsibility doesn't end at food,clothing and shelter. Your lucky Mike in the sense your father seems to have given you a well rounded foundation, most are not that lucky. Some can overcome it,some can't,such is life. Keeping kids in a bubble does nothing to enhance them in any way shape or form.HT SYSTEM-
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What happens in America is defined by tort lawyers, and unfortunately that limits some of the adventure playgrounds,?
that right there say's it all. No hazards = NO FUN in most all of life -
For me, monkey bars were for walking on top of... Sure, I fell off and snapped my wrist. I was back on them before the cast was removed, too. I'm sure my parents didn't condone it, though.
It's good to take risks, but precautions and safety aren't bad ideas either.
I agree with your sentiments. It's called life - live it!
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One of my favorite quotes:
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to slide in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy $#!@, what a ride!"
Kids nowadays have almost no chance in this pansy world. This hurts you, that can kill you, what happened to living. We are raising a race of wimps that may never be able to fend for themselves. It is truly sad. -
Last time I posted my thoughts on this, a big, stupid fight came out of it.
When I was a kid, my dad was involved in my life. He showed me and taught me stuff but the biggest thing he gave me was the ability to not fear failure and cherish risk. If you fear failure, you don't take the risk. If you don't take the risk, you'll never rise above the position you are in. It's not just the stuff that could physically hurt you either. There are risks that will bring pain/strife/hardship if you fail but the reward is many times greater.
I have a laundry list of accomplishments in my life that I never would have had if my father hadn't done the "dangerous" stuff with me. Even in the Boy Scouts, we were showed that stuff is as dangerous as you make it. I was 11 years old and using knives, shooting guns and building fires. Stuff the nuns looked down on in grade school.
But taking those risks with the dangerous things is no different now than it was then. Many of my co-workers fear damaging sensitive computer equipment to the point of paralysis when a machine is not functioning properly. Many times I just grabbed a screw driver and a ground strap and went to town tearing things down to find the problem. Even though those worrying co-workers were standing idly by saying things like "You shouldn't be doing that", they rarely stepped in and stopped me. I've had several times where my willingness to take that risk meant the difference between a hot project or deadline meeting success or failure.
It's not the skills that matter in those situations. It's the ability to assess a risk and determine if it's worth taking. If you've never stood on one side of a ravine and thought about how to get to the other side, you never really developed those risk assessment skills. And no, video games don't do that. But if you never stood at that ravine in the first place then you never really learned any problem solving skills that would allow you to see the risk and learn from the success or the failure of taking that risk for that matter.
Then again, some people can take the risk and still never figure it out or learn from it.
Risk is a chance to meet a challenge, surpass it and advance your position. If you don't take any risks, you won't get ahead in life.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
I don't think lawyers can take all the blame. Think of all the womens magazines, not to mention the morning news and talk shows filled with pediatricians and orthopedic surgeons WARNING of the dangers of 'playing'.
Add to that, the number of people who are incapable of instilling any common sense into their children.
There's plenty of blame to go around I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE! -
Last time I posted my thoughts on this, a big, stupid fight came out of it.
That's not the Internet I know.If you will it, dude, it is no dream. -
Precisely. Every individual makes that determination differently. Like they say, with great risk, comes great reward, ... and sometimes (what isn't always mentioned...) spectacular failure! It's the individual's ability to learn from the experience (and in the future, adjust accordingly) that matters.It's the ability to assess a risk and determine if it's worth taking. -
the ability to assess a risk and determine if it's worth taking.
Yeah you are right. That pretty much sums up the result of a good upbringing.
